Classmates crowded around her, falling over themselves to flatter, and right beside her sat my husband, Chester Delgado.

I looked at the scene and felt nothing. No sting, no twist in my chest—just a bone-deep certainty that it was finally, irreversibly over.

If Glenda Fox hadn't gone abroad back then, Chester would never have chosen me, the girl trailing behind him.

Twenty-odd years of childhood-sweetheart history. I was never going to compete with that.

Once I'd made peace with it, I could face this reunion with something close to calm.

I picked up a glass of wine and raised it toward Glenda.

"Welcome home."

She looked caught off guard, but smiled and lifted her glass in return.

Just as Glenda was about to drink, Chester stopped her.

"Glenda, you just got over a cold. Let me drink it for you."

The room went silent.

Glenda didn't refuse. She smiled and said okay.

After Chester finished the glass, she tilted her head and looked at me.

"Georgina, don't take it the wrong way. Chester's just looking out for me. He doesn't mean anything by it."

I laughed softly, then splashed the wine in my hand straight into Chester's face.

"Oh? So you can talk now."

Wine slid down his cheeks and dripped onto his expensive shirt, blooming into a dark stain.

Every eye in the room locked on me, bright with the ugly thrill of someone else's wreckage.

Chester stared at me in disbelief.

A long silence. Then he dropped his voice and snarled:

"Georgina, have you lost your mind?"

I smashed the empty glass on the floor. "Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one who's been faking it."

Chester swallowed hard, guilt written all over his face.

"You couldn't speak. Three years you couldn't speak. Not a single word. But you see Glenda Fox and suddenly you're cured?"

"Or is it just selective? Mute around me, perfectly fine around her?"

"Nothing to say to me—ever. But for Glenda, you can sing love songs and jump in to take her drink?"

My voice cracked before I could stop it.

Outsiders all envied us—husband and wife, heart and soul, building Delgado Group together. But this marriage had only ever gone one direction. I gave. He sat there.

I was the one who bowed and scraped. I was the one who sweet-talked investors and smoothed over deals. And none of it ever earned me a shred of real feeling from him.

All those years courting investors, I drank until I burned a hole through my stomach.

Chester sat next to me the whole time, never had to say a single word, and still walked away with signed contracts.

The color drained from his face, then flooded back wrong. He reached for my hand and I knocked it away.

"Georgina, let me explain..."

The words came out rushed, and for the first time I heard something I'd never heard in his voice before: panic.

I folded my arms and looked at him. "What is there left to explain between us?"

I looked past Chester, straight at Glenda.

"After all, you two are the ones who were made for each other."

Her smile stiffened, but she kept that lofty composure in place.

"Chester, you should be more patient with Georgina lately."

"She did just have a miscarriage. It's only natural she'd be emotional."

Glenda's voice was soft, measured, playing peacemaker.

Every word a knife aimed straight at my chest.

"You can drop the gentle act. Your Chester and I are getting divorced."

I grabbed my bag and was halfway out the door when I remembered one more thing.

"I'll send you the divorce papers later."

The cold wind hit my face at the street corner, and all I felt was relief.

Back at the hotel, I was about to send Chester the agreement I'd already drafted when I saw his latest social media post.

A woman shot from behind, face tilted up toward a sky full of fireworks.

Five words for a caption: *Welcome home, the Fox heiress.*

I tapped the photo open. The background was the amusement park I'd been asking to go to for years.

When Chester and I first got together, he'd actually been decent to me.

He remembered what I liked to eat, planned every date down to the last detail.

Except for taking me to the amusement park.

No matter how many times I brought it up, he refused. Said a place like that was a waste of time.

So Chester Delgado could be silly and indulgent after all.

He just wasn't willing to be that way for me.

His message came through right then.

Use this time to think about what you did. I already apologized to Glenda on your behalf.

The doorbell rang. A courier stood outside with a dessert box Chester had sent over.

Compared to the ten-tier cake he'd ordered to welcome Glenda home,

this little cake was exactly how much space I took up in Chester Delgado's life—

Almost none.

Even the topping was mango. Glenda's favorite.

Chester knew I was allergic to mango. He'd always known. He just didn't care.

His idea of smoothing things over with me came wrapped in the same lazy indifference as everything else.

I threw the cake in the trash.

I'd just finished washing up and was about to sleep when frantic knocking erupted at the door.

Chester.

His face was caked with dust, his clothes streaked with blood.

The moment he saw me, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the elevator.

"Crash on the way taking Glenda home. The hospital's blood bank doesn't have enough—you're the same type as her."

A life was on the line. I didn't argue.

Down in the garage, the front end of his car was crumpled almost beyond recognition, smoke still curling from the hood. I couldn't help frowning.

"Maybe we should call a cab."

"A cab? Glenda's in there dying and you want to wait for a cab!"

The words came out sharp and cold. Even Chester seemed to hear it.

He didn't apologize. He just opened the car door for me.

I sat in the passenger seat without a word.

Neither of us spoke the entire way to the hospital.

It wasn't until Chester got out that I noticed what was on his seat. A pair of lace underwear.

When I didn't move, his voice turned icy. "What is it now?"

"So what if you're mad at me—Glenda was your college roommate. You're really going to sit here and watch her die?"

The urgency in his voice cracked something open. Everything I'd been holding down surged up at once.

I looked him in the eye. "You want my blood? Then tell me what caused the crash."

Chester, who had been so righteous a second ago, couldn't meet my gaze.

"I was going too fast. Lost control for a second and..."

"Or you two were having so much fun in the car you forgot you were still driving."

The words barely left my mouth before his hand cracked across my face.

My left cheek burned white-hot.

Chester looked almost startled by what he'd done.

His hand hung in the air, a flash of panic in his eyes, but it vanished just as fast, swallowed by irritation.

"This isn't the time for this. Glenda is lying in the emergency room!"

"And how is that my problem? Chester, what makes you think I'd willingly bleed for the homewrecker who ruined my marriage?"

My eyes dropped, cold and mocking, to the seat he'd just been sitting in.

The lace underwear sitting there, stained with something I didn't want to name, proving Chester Delgado's betrayal plain as day.

I got out and started to walk away. He seized my arm and dragged me into the hospital by force.

I fought him every step.

"Chester, I am not giving blood!"

I dug my nails into his arm. "Let go of me!"

But the difference in strength between us was too vast. Even as my nails bent back from the force of my grip, I couldn't break free.

Inside the hospital room, Chester grabbed IV tubing and bound my wrists so I couldn't run.

He pulled it tight. The sharp pain traveled along every nerve and settled somewhere deep in my chest.

A nurse wheeled in the blood-draw equipment, shock and hesitation plain on her face.

"Sir, this is..."

He cut her off instantly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

"Leave it. She's emotional—I restrained her so she wouldn't hurt herself. Draw the blood. The type's a match."

The nurse looked at the scene in front of her and couldn't stop herself from speaking up.

"But she only just had a miscarriage. Drawing blood now could do real damage to her body..."

Chester interrupted impatiently. "Enough. Glenda's situation is more urgent."

"My wife can be looked after properly later."

Those careless words—an ice-tipped blade, slipped between my ribs and driven straight into the softest place in my chest.

I stopped struggling. I let them push the needle into the back of my hand.

Warm blood flowed through the clear tubing into the collection bag.

Even that wasn't fast enough for him. He snapped at the nurse to switch to a thicker needle.

He stared at the filling bag, not bothering to hide how badly he needed every last drop.

When the draw was finished, the nurse pressed a cotton swab over the puncture and spoke gently.

"Ma'am, please get plenty of rest. Avoid any strenuous activity for the time being..."

Before she could finish, Chester had already snatched the blood bag and was running toward the emergency room.

He didn't look back at me once.

I don't know how long passed before the light above the emergency room went off.

*The patient is out of danger.* Chester's rigid face finally cracked—a slow exhale, a smile of sheer relief.

He thanked the doctor again and again, almost absurdly humble.

Only then did he remember I existed.

He reached out to touch me. I turned my head away.

This time he didn't get angry. If anything, he looked pleased with himself.

"Good thing you were here. Name it—whatever you want, it's yours."

I held out the printed divorce agreement. "I only want one thing. Your signature."

Right then, nurses wheeled Glenda out.

She called Chester's name, her voice thin and weak.

He didn't even look at what I'd handed him. He signed without a second's pause.

The moment he finished, he strode to Glenda's side and murmured something gentle.

"Don't be scared, Glenda. I'm here. I'll stay with you."

I clutched the signed agreement and disappeared down the corridor.

A month later, Glenda was discharged.

Only then did Chester realize I hadn't contacted him in a very long time.

He'd barely finished sending me a message when his secretary hurried in.

"President Delgado—the partners are pulling out. All of them. They're saying—"